The School of Essential Ingredients

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Reminiscent of Chocolat and Like Water for Chocolate, a gorgeously written novel about life, love, and the magic of food.

The School of Essential Ingredients follows the lives of eight students who gather in Lillian's Restaurant every Monday night for cooking class. It soon becomes clear, however, that each one seeks a recipe for something beyond the kitchen. Students include Claire, a young mother struggling with the demands of her family; Antonia, an Italian kitchen designer learning to adapt to life in America; and Tom, a widower mourning the loss of his wife to breast cancer. Chef Lillian, a woman whose connection with food is both soulful and exacting, helps them to create dishes whose flavor and techniques expand beyond the restaurant and into the secret corners of her student's lives.

One by one the students are transformed by the aromas, flavors, and textures of Lillian's food, including a white-on-white cake that prompts wistful reflections on the sweet fragility of love and a peppery heirloom tomato sauce that seems to spark one romance but end another. Brought together by the power of food and companionship, the lives of the characters mingle and intertwine, united by the revealing nature of what can be created in the kitchen.

Review:

"In this remarkable debut, Bauermeister creates a captivating world where the pleasures and particulars of sophisticated food come to mean much more than simple epicurean indulgence. Respected chef and restaurateur Lillian has spent much of her 30-something years in the kitchen, looking for meaning and satisfaction in evocative, delicious combinations of ingredients. Endeavoring to instill that love and know-how in others, Lillian holds a season of Monday evening cooking classes in her restaurant. The novel takes up the story of each of her students, navigating readers through the personal dramas, memories and musings stirred up as the characters handle, slice, chop, blend, smell and taste. Each student's affecting story — painful transitions, difficult choices — is rendered in vivid prose and woven together with confidence. Delivering memorable story lines and characters while seducing the senses, Bauermeister's tale of food and hope is certain to satisfy." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

Review:

"[A] series of pearl-like vignettes stretched out along a narrative string. Anchoring the tales of these divergent individuals is their common participation in a cooking class." Booklist

Review:

"[R]eads like a yummy bedtime story, with agreeable characters and dreamy dishes." Oregonian

Review:

"[Bauermeister's] cooking descriptions...will compel readers to hit the farmers market and run for the kitchen." Seattle Times

Synopsis:

Eight students gather in Lillian's Restaurant every Monday night for cooking class. It soon becomes clear, however, that each one seeks a recipe for something beyond the kitchen.

Synopsis:

A "heartbreakingly delicious" national bestseller about a chef, her students, and the evocative lessons that food teaches about life.

Once a month, eight students gather in Lillian's restaurant for a cooking class. Among them is Claire, a young woman coming to terms with her new identity as a mother; Tom, a lawyer whose life has been overturned by loss; Antonia, an Italian kitchen designer adapting to life in America; and Carl and Helen, a long-married couple whose union contains surprises the rest of the class would never suspect...

The students have come to learn the art behind Lillian's soulful dishes, but it soon becomes clear that each seeks a recipe for something beyond the kitchen. And soon they are transformed by the aromas, flavors, and textures of what they create.

About the Author

Erica Bauermeister's love of slow food and slow life was instilled by her two years living in northern Italy with her family. She has taught literature and writing at the University of Washington. This is her first novel.

What Our Readers Are Saying

Average customer rating based on 15 comments:

Jill Kahn, November 26, 2013 (view all comments by Jill Kahn)
If you are a literary, Northwest foodie, this is your book. The prose is literally, delicious, filled with images that evoke the desire to start playing in your kitchen. And while it is a series of love stories, they are crisp and edgy, and fiercely authentic. The author’s vignettes of participants in the cooking class at a food lovers’ restaurant span the age range, exploring the diversity of human experience, learning about love and life through the delectable medium of food.

Linda Jane Smith, January 1, 2013 (view all comments by Linda Jane Smith)
Bauermeister weaves a lovely story of food and relationships. The characters are all attending a weekly cooking class, and we learn about their lives and loves as the weeks of cooking progress. Bauermeister's transitions are seamless, and her writing is dreamy. I couldn't put the book down.

nana k, August 11, 2012 (view all comments by nana k)
Here is a book to savor and enjoy. Erica Bauermeister dishes up a lovely story that will pull you in and make you feel you are part of the book. It would be impossible to not feel you know at least some of the characters personally. Her descriptions are sensual and will draw you into beautifully told story. It is the perfect read for anytime,but especially during a nice summer afternoon. If you love to cook you will love the book, if you don't cook, you will want to start immediately by taking a cooking class!

Was this comment helpful? | Yes | No(1 of 2 readers found this comment helpful)

"Publishers Weekly Review"
by Publishers Weekly,
"In this remarkable debut, Bauermeister creates a captivating world where the pleasures and particulars of sophisticated food come to mean much more than simple epicurean indulgence. Respected chef and restaurateur Lillian has spent much of her 30-something years in the kitchen, looking for meaning and satisfaction in evocative, delicious combinations of ingredients. Endeavoring to instill that love and know-how in others, Lillian holds a season of Monday evening cooking classes in her restaurant. The novel takes up the story of each of her students, navigating readers through the personal dramas, memories and musings stirred up as the characters handle, slice, chop, blend, smell and taste. Each student's affecting story — painful transitions, difficult choices — is rendered in vivid prose and woven together with confidence. Delivering memorable story lines and characters while seducing the senses, Bauermeister's tale of food and hope is certain to satisfy." Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"Review"
by Booklist,
"[A] series of pearl-like vignettes stretched out along a narrative string. Anchoring the tales of these divergent individuals is their common participation in a cooking class."

"Review"
by Oregonian,
"[R]eads like a yummy bedtime story, with agreeable characters and dreamy dishes."

"Review"
by Seattle Times,
"[Bauermeister's] cooking descriptions...will compel readers to hit the farmers market and run for the kitchen."

"Synopsis"
by Ingram,
Eight students gather in Lillian's Restaurant every Monday night for cooking class. It soon becomes clear, however, that each one seeks a recipe for something beyond the kitchen.

"Synopsis"
by Penguin,
A "heartbreakingly delicious" national bestseller about a chef, her students, and the evocative lessons that food teaches about life.

Once a month, eight students gather in Lillian's restaurant for a cooking class. Among them is Claire, a young woman coming to terms with her new identity as a mother; Tom, a lawyer whose life has been overturned by loss; Antonia, an Italian kitchen designer adapting to life in America; and Carl and Helen, a long-married couple whose union contains surprises the rest of the class would never suspect...

The students have come to learn the art behind Lillian's soulful dishes, but it soon becomes clear that each seeks a recipe for something beyond the kitchen. And soon they are transformed by the aromas, flavors, and textures of what they create.

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